Heat
by Finglor
Summary: Kate & Sawyer face the heat in the jungle the pair have to deal with the island's dangers: will it tear them apart? Will Sawyer go too far? Please give it a chance! Rated for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

"…and then you have to melt _loads_ of butter all over it, oh god I'd _kill_ for a crumpet. And tea, proper English tea, really strong, you cant beat a cuppa, that's definitely the first thing Ill do once we get off this dump.."

Kate sighed, letting Charlie's rapturous fantasizing tune out as her attention drifted. For the fifty millionth time that night she pulled her sticky vest away from her skin in a vain attempt to get some non-existent breeze against her clammy skin. The air was stifling, she was in an impatient mood, the whole island seemed to be crawling, buzzing with human beings, and Kate wanted nothing more than to be alone. Cool and alone. Focusing back in on Charlie's monologue, she caught still more food talk; the man was clearly going to gain about 30 pounds the minute they set foot off the island. Not we_, they_, Kate reminded herself with a pang. As much as she was about to throttle Charlie right now, it unnerved her to admit that she had become very used to other people's company recently. Despite the fact that they were on a large deserted island it was incredibly hard to go for long without bumping into people; people who invariably wanted something from her; fetch more water, fetch Jack, start a fire, help me cook, am I doing this right, can I eat this fruit? She was beginning to know why Jack was often frustrated; for some reason that was utterly perplexing to her, people seemed to turn to Kate for advice or help. Not for anything major, it wasn't like she could hunt like Locke, fix people like Jack or grow medicine from what looked to everyone else like weeds, like Sun. But Kate seemed to give off a capable sort of vibe, that suggested she would know what to do better than most people in any given situation. Kate supposed it was her own fault for getting involved in island events from the start, but it was beginning to unnerve her; it was exasperating but also perversely satisfying. For as long as she could remember before getting on the plane, no one had needed Kate Austin, and she had not needed anyone or anything but her own wits to survive. Now she was worried that if she got off the island (no, When. _When_ she got off the island, Kate corrected herself, stubbornly forcing herself to have optimism) she would find it too hard to be alone again. But then Kate's patience snapped as she heard the word "crumpets" again from Charlie; enough company for now. She yawned loudly and pointedly, then cutting in,

"Hey Charlie, sorry but I'm exhausted, do you mind if I get some rest?"

Charlie looked at little surprised and put out to be cut off so shortly, but he was too good-natured to get offended very easily; one of the reasons why Kate got along with him so well despite the annoying tendency to jabber for hours.

"Uh, sure, okay, guess its getting late. Well, I best be off then".

He got to his feet, waving her goodnight. Kate smiled warmly up at him, exasperation forgotten.

"Night Charlie".

As his footsteps scrunched away across the sand, no doubt headed in Claire's direction, Kate lay down on top of her bedroll and closed her eyes, willing sleep to come.

After what she guessed to be about an hour, Kate sat up, growling with frustration, wanting to scream. She was so sticky she felt like human flypaper, not a whisper of a breeze disturbed the muggy, humid air, and she could think of nothing but the beach she had discovered yesterday. She had come across it whilst looking for fruit, the patches near to the beach and the caves being all but bare now. Heading far into the jungle in a direction she hadn't explored before, she had let curiosity get the better of her and wandered for a few hours. It hadn't occurred to her to worry, as it was still morning and she had a good sense of direction. When the trees had thinned out and she had found herself staring out onto a beautiful little cove, she had forgotten all about food. Unlike the wide open sweep of coastline where the camp was, with its rough currents and monotonous view, this secluded corner was a hidden paradise. Sloping down sharply from the tree-line, the rocky curve created a sheltered inlet, where the water was calm and deep blue. Kate had been unable to resist, and stripped off and dived straight in. Now, stifled by heat and humidity, Kate longed for the cooling touch of water on her skin. Whilst Locke had told them all not to swim in the ocean at night, due to the strong current and maybe sharks (though no-one had seen any yet) Kate couldn't imagine any dangers from her secret little cove.

Looking around her, she saw only one fire still burning, and that a way away; everyone else must be asleep. She was decided. Quietly and slowly she stuffed her towel and spare panties into her rucksack. She cursed her luck again at being practically the only person who had flown without swimwear in their luggage. She knew Shannon had a spare bikini; Kate was sure she had seen her in at least 3 different ones, and Shannon would probably have at least lent her one if she asked. But somehow Kate hadn't asked; it was just one more thing to mark her apart, to remind her that whilst lots of the other passengers had boarded the plane as holiday makers, she had got on handcuffed to a US marshal with only a handful of clothes. Kate pushed these thoughts away from her, and, retrieving her knife from its hiding place, thrust it into the waist of her pants, just for luck, she told herself. She glanced around at the other shelters before she stood up. Sawyer's was noticeable even in the dark for being far more elaborate and better constructed than the others. Kate stared a moment, making sure there was no sign of movement, before getting to her feet and making a beeline for the trees. As she reached the tree-line, and peered into the intense darkness, she felt a momentary qualm; was it really such a good idea to take off into the jungle on her own like this? But then her confidence in her ability reasserted; it was simple enough to get to the cove, she was surprised no-one else had found it. And she was armed, what could go wrong? Pressing her pocket to check the torch was there, she slipped into the trees.

Kate had planned to switch on the torch as soon as she was away from the camp, but once she realised her eyes had adjusted well to the dark she decided to save batteries. It wasn't a dark night, and there was just enough light even in the jungle to see the path. She ploughed ahead confidently, knowing it would be at least another half hour before she needed to leave the well used path. Ten minutes later Kate froze in her tracks. Something about the crunch-snap she had just heard behind her was different, she knew instinctively, from the countless night-time jungle noises she had heard so far. It came again. Silently Kate slipped off the path and moulded herself behind a tree. Sliding the torch from her pocket and her knife from her waist, she waited, nerves taut, as the sound came closer, ready to spring on her opponent, or else throw herself up the tree if it was a boar or something. But Kate was pretty sure it was being too quiet for a boar. By the time the sound was within 20 foot of her she was sure it was human; she could hear the breathing. And no-one on an innocent mission would be sneaking about like that.

Very carefully Kate peered round her tree, her heart hammering against her chest, her mouth suddenly bone-dry. She was no longer too hot. She felt a thrill of fear as she spied her stalker, a dense dark outline against the trees, but she could make out no features. She was sure it was a man, and he was very close. Ducking her head back, willing her panic down, she measured his progress by the sound of his feet as he crept onwards. When she was sure he was just level with her tree, not a moment before, Kate suddenly threw herself onto her attacker, ramming her shoulder into his chest with the full force for her weight and adrenaline. Her stalker gave a shocked yell, and crashed to the ground, Kate on top of him. Before he could recover, Kate whipped up her knife, lightening fast, and pressed it to his throat none too gently, then taking advantage of his shock, with her other hand trained the flashlight directly into his face and flicked the switch.


	2. Chapter 2

For a few seconds Kate failed to recognise the face revealed to her in the flashlight's beam, scrunched up against the sudden light. But as reason overcame adrenaline, and her eyes focused in the brightness, she almost dropped the flashlight in shock.

"Sawyer!"

Sawyer, pinned beneath her knife helplessly, had evidently not recognised her yet either.

"What the..Kate? Jesus Christ", he muttered.

Kate's fear was rapidly being replaced by rage and indignation. Her heart was still hammering like crazy; he had scared her badly, and that made her furious.

"Just what the HELL do you think you're doing, following me like that? Are you crazy?" she yelled, her face close to his.

Sawyer couldn't see too well from where he was, as the light was shone at him, but he could see her eyes were narrowed in a furious glare, and her tangled hair fell over her face. He could tell she was breathing heavily; good, she had dammed near killed him of shock, jumping him like that.

"I'm crazy? Oh that's a good one Sassafrass. And just who exactly is the one sneakin round in the middle of the night, jumpin on people from trees like a damn…tiger?"

Sawyer scowled, well aware that hadn't sounded quite as fearsome as he had intended. Sawyer's indignation penetrated Kate's rage, and she smiled a little.

"I didn't jump from a tree, I was hid behind it. And tigers don't have knives",

She grinned; then realised that she still had the knife to Sawyer's throat. She pulled it back apologetically, sitting up a little. Sawyer relaxed slightly, and reached up to rub his throat where the knife tip had dug in. Seeing him wince, she felt bad; lowering the flashlight she reached her hand over to his throat and touched the spot gently, concerned; a small smear of blood came away on her fingertips, but no more. She looked up at him, grimacing.

"Sorry. But you scared the shit out of me. I though you were maybe that crazy guy again". She shivered slightly, and Sawyer's expression softened.

"Hey, no worries Freckles, if I have to get stuck with a knife to get you on top of me, so be it", he grinned his trademark dirty smirk, making Kate roll her eyes and smile. She wondered briefly why she let Sawyer get away with such disgusting, sexist remarks all the time, even found them funny sometimes, when with any other guy she'd break their nose. Then she reasoned he had paid for it by being jumped on by a "tiger". All the same, Kate became suddenly aware that she was indeed straddling Sawyer's body, her thighs pressed against his sides. She rolled off him, letting him sit up with a groan. The pair of them sat in silence for a few minutes, each trying to catch their breath and recover; each trying the preserve the illusion that they hadn't scared each other half to death. Sawyer was the first to break the silence,

"So what's a pretty tiger like you doin in a place like this?" he drawled. Kate smiled, playing along.

"Oh, us tigers get pretty hot in this kind of weather". She hesitated for a moment, debating whether to let Sawyer in on her secret. Truth be told, she was still a little unnerved and didn't relish the idea of carrying on alone though the jungle. She looked at him.

"Sawyer, you remember the lake we found, when we went swimming?"

"Ah the lovely Lake o' Corpses, how could I forget sweetcheeks?" He quipped, but a shadow fell over his face, and they both remembered how finding the dead bodies, and the suitcase, had shattered the closeness that had been developing between them. Sawyer forced cheerfulness back,

"So what, tigers are that short of food they gotta go fishin for dead people?"

"Nope, tigers find secret places to go swimming" Kate answered. "I found this place, it's like a secret beach. I was so hot, I thought.."

"So you got a secret beach now? Who are you, Leonardo DiCaprio?" Sawyer scowled, obviously jealous.

"Don't sulk", smiled Kate, "I only found it yesterday. I was gonna tell everyone but…well its no use for fishing really, so I thought.." she tailed off, a little sheepish. "Well, d'you want to come or what?" Sawyer hesitated for a moment, then saw that behind her apparent briskness, there was a shadow of pleading in her eyes. Anyhow, he wasn't too desperate to leave her here on her own, where there might be bigger tigers than her.

"Lead the way, Sassafrass", he drawled.


	3. Chapter 3

As Kate and Sawyer trudged along the forest path, the only sound to intrude on their amicable silence was the scrunch of their feet, more or less in unison – that and the occasional muffled curse from Sawyer when he tripped on tree-roots or skidded on slimy things, which he did often enough to make Kate smile, and too often to properly maintain his tough capable image. At least Kate hoped their silence was amicable; Sawyer was so hard to read sometimes, he might just as easily be in a mood. Kate tried to keep the flashlight beam steady on the path in front of her; Sawyer's night-vision, whilst it had got him to the point where he'd been jumped, was not up to Kate's standard. Besides the tree cover was getting thicker. Sawyer had become more alarmed than he cared to admit when about 15 minutes ago Kate had suddenly announced,

"ok, here's where we leave the track", and plunged ahead into the virgin jungle.

Sawyer had seen nothing whatsoever that could plausibly have been a landmark, but at the sight of Kate's slim form retreating rapidly into the gloom, bearing the beacon of light away with her, Sawyer didn't think he'd get anywhere arguing. She still seemed to know exactly where she was, and Sawyer had to admit they hadn't fallen into any bogs or walked into any polar bears yet. But still; she was either very good at tracking or she was making it up as she went.

"Hey Freckles, how much further's this paddlin' pool of yours anyway?" He complained, as much to strike up conversation as anything.

She threw him a look over her shoulder, without breaking her stride, and even though her face was in shade he could see from the shape of her cheeks that she was smiling.

"Almost there, if your little legs can hold out a bit longer", she teased.

He admired the way her curls whipped round her as she swung her head back round. He wished he was the one with the flashlight so he could admire the view of her a bit better. Whilst he would never have put down stumbling through deep jungle in the middle of the night as a favourite leisure pass-time, he had to admit he was enjoying the peace and quiet; and Kate's company. Whilst the silence of the night air seemed to discourage too much talking – it seemed somehow disrespectful, like talking in an art gallery – at least it meant they were enjoying each other's company without arguing. As they hiked, Sawyer grumbling threateningly in response to Kate's mocking, something that had been nudging at the edge of his mind for some time popped back into his thoughts.

"Hey Freckles? Where'd you come by that knife you tried to stick me with anyhow?" then, frowning slightly, Sawyer continued, "Way I remember it, your choice of travelling partner didn't look much like the type to approve of sharp toys like that. An I thought airlines weren't none too hot on em' neither?"

Sawyer's tone had started out light and enquiring, but as the last two points occurred to him, his voice had taken on a questioning, almost accusing tone underneath the lightheartedness. He saw Kate's shoulders tense, her pace slow. Kate felt an unexplained hollowness in her stomach as she heard the accusation creep into his voice; he obviously thought she'd gotten it illegally; stolen it, or had it hidden to attack the Marshal or something. It hurt to realise that he clearly didn't trust her, that he was expecting to discover another of her dirty secrets that he could use to gain power over her, like the suitcase and its fateful contents. She didn't reply immediately, and then her voice was even, controlled, but the very fact she was having to control her voice told Sawyer she was hurt.

"Not that it's any of your business Sawyer, but I got the knife off John Locke. He has a whole stash from that outback thing he was gonna do".

Sawyer couldn't stop the sneering comment that escaped his lips,

"Oh is that right? And just what exactly did you give him in return for that, then Freckles?"

That last insinuation was too much for Kate, her frayed temper snapped. Stopping dead in her tracks this time, she whipped round to face Sawyer, fisted hands on hips, flashlight forgotten and pointed behind her.

"I gave him my belt ok Sawyer? My goddammed belt. He said he wanted the leather for one of those weird trap things he makes. Are you happy? If you want to accuse me of stealing or..or..whatever, then why don't you just come out and say it?"

By this time Kate was shouting, and with the last few words her voice cracked, and as she spun round away from him, Sawyer thought he heard a stifled sob. Sawyer cursed, mentally kicking himself. He'd totally ruined the atmosphere between them; why did he always have to push her just a bit too far? So what if Kate had stolen the knife anyway; of all his hoarded possessions back on the beach, the ones that weren't out and out stolen, like Boone's book, were scavenged off of dead passengers; hardly Boy Scout behaviour. He believed her about Locke; the man did seem to have an endless supply of dangerous weapons hanging round, and him giving them out wasn't unknown; just such a gift to that kid, Walt, had caused Michael to almost throttle Locke. But on the other hand, she was so damn unpredictable. He already knew she was more than capable of handling a gun; hence the pissed-off cop in a shallow grave. And when she'd jumped him with the knife earlier she hadn't looked exactly inexperienced with that either. She had told him (though not in so many words) that she had been on the run for years, and that she had done plenty of stuff she seemed pretty cut up about. Sawyer was torn as he tried to reconcile the two versions of Kate in his head; on the one hand the woman who had killed a man, showed up tied onto a cop, lied repeatedly, stolen, and seemed to be collecting various guns, weapons and IDs on the island. But on the other hand a woman so clearly haunted by that same past, so that at the mention of certain things (like toy aeroplanes) or more mysteriously like when he had tried to call her Katie, made her shut down and practically fall apart at the same time. Half the time she looked so capable and strong, shimmying up trees like a monkey or diving off alone into the jungle; even dangerous like when she pinned him with the knife. But sometimes she looked so vulnerable, just like a lost kid, that Sawyer felt an almost entirely alien urge to protect her. Like now. Sawyer felt a pang of remorse as he saw her hunched shoulders, arms wrapped across her body as she walked. He wasn't sure if Kate was actually crying or not, but she was sure as hell upset. He was firmly convinced that he shouldn't care; but that didn't do anything about the fact that he DID. Damn. He wanted to make it up to her, but cringed at the thought; he didn't do, never had done apologies, let alone soppy kiss-and-make-up stuff. But then, as he stumbled along in her wake, now relying on his luck to stay upright as Kate was no longer bothering to shine the torch ahead, he reconsidered. He'd always shied away from apologies, admitting blame, or even sticking around long enough for blame to be even an issue with other women, because he was scared of their neediness. As soon as you started saying sorry to women like Sawyer was usually tied up with, they stamped all over you with their Prada stilettos; that or stuck themselves to you like glue. Not good. But, as he watched Kate striding along, shoulders hunched in both defiance and defence, Sawyer began to realise that Kate probably wasn't like that. She wasn't needy; in fact the extreme opposite, so that she'd rather fall off a cliff than ask for a hand back up. She wasn't looking for an opportunity to attach herself to him. Besides she was the only person on the island he could stand for more than five seconds straight. On a more practical note, at the rate she was moving if he didn't act soon he'd be lost in the jungle before long. Before he had a chance to think about it too much, Sawyer called out to her,

"Freckles! Hey Freckles wait up!". Sawyer thought she paused for a second, but carried on moving with no response. C'mon, don't be a pussy, Sawyer urged himself.

"Freckles! Will you please wait for one goddamn minute?" no response. Ok last chance..

"KATE!"

At this she stopped, turning slowly to face Sawyer, who stood a few paces behind, panting a little. She said nothing but looked at him, her face in darkness. Oh shit, though Sawyer, now what'm I supposed to do.. What the hell, it was dark, he could pretend he was talking to himself or some shit.

"Look, Freckles, I don't care whatcha did or didn't steal, aint none of my business. You wanna knife, you go right ahead and get yourself a knife".

Rather proud of this open admission of error, Sawyer waited for the effects. Silence from Kate. Shit.

"Look, Freckles, you say you got the damn thing from Locke I believe you, 'kay? No big deal". Nothing.

"Look, I… when I said bout Locke an' that shit…I didn't…I know you wouldn…"

Sawyer heard his own voice become low and gruff with embarrassment, almost a growl; why in hell was this so hard? Just one little S word? Clenching his fists, not realising Kate could see the physical effort this was costing him, Sawyer grated out the words,

"Kate, m SORRY okay?"

Then stood silent, glaring at her almost defiantly. His heart beat a little faster as he awaited her response; he was out of ideas now. Kate seemed to know this was about as much as she would get out of him of his own accord. She moved, her shoulders slumping, head hanging to the ground. Now she sounded tired, defeated, not angry.

"It's ok Sawyer. You're right, there's no reason why you should believe me, I don't deserve it. I just…after you gave me that gun to go hunt Ethan, I…" her voice dropped so as to be just barely audible; Sawyer moved closer to her to catch what she said.

"I thought you trusted me".

Again he felt that jab inside of him; remorse? Guilt? Pity? No, whatever else he was pretty sure he didn't pity Kate. But call it whatever, he seemed to be growing some sort of Kate-specific unhappiness radar, so that he couldn't feel good if she was upset. He was not impressed. He was unbelievably bad at making himself happy, how in hell was he supposed to accomplish it with someone else? He took a further step closer, moving right up close to her. He reached out his arm hesitantly, not sure what to do; was he supposed to hug her now, or what?

"Look Freckles, all that shit I said, I….I dunno why I said it. I didn't wanna make you all upset an shit".

He touched her arm awkwardly, a sort of little rub like you might give a dog, them brushed his fingers down her arm, letting his hand fall back. Kate was touched despite herself, and smiled a little at his awkwardness. He continued haltingly,

"I didn't mean…Look can we just forget I said all that crap?"

He looked at her, a mixture of exasperation and pleading showing in his features. Kate sighed a little. This was obviously the equivalent of full-blown Catholic confession for him.

"It's ok Sawyer. It's not really important. Anyway you must trust me a bit, you gave me that gun, right?"

Her tone was light, but there was questioning in her voice as she waited his response.

"That I did, Freckles", he answered noncommitaly, his expression unreadable.

Kate looked into his eyes for a moment, apparently searching for something there; but she seemed not to find it, as she looked down with a sigh.

"Anyway, I shouldn't of over-reacted like that", she continued. "I guess it's this damn heat; makes me want to hit something", she complained, tugging fretfully at the fabric of her vest.

Sawyer backed away in mock fear, hands raised as if in defence,

"Hey, whoa, just leave me outta this, okay?"

That earned a laugh from her. Then he raised his eyebrow suggestively,

"Hey Tiger-gal, if you're hot, you could lose a few a those sweaty ole clothes, I promise I wont complain". She just laughed at this.

Sawyer was relieved she seemed to be okay again, at least for now. At her suggestion, they started moving once more, Kate seeming impatient to get to her beach. But as they walked, Sawyer couldn't help feeling some remnants of guilt. He had wanted to tell her that he DID trust her; but he wasn't totally sure if that was true.


End file.
